Tuesday, January 25, 2011

I am so exited! Thank to Ann and her blog Bella Crochet I read about Elmore Pisgah, which is going out of business and having 50 % off clearance event. I've never heard about their yarn "America's best" before.
So I couldn't decide which color to get:

This one: Turquoise

or this one: Thunderbird

Last summer I war crazy about this color:

Everything I was buying was that color. I hated myself and couldn't help myself!
I see this summer it's going to be green madness. All right (sighing).
So.... I've got both!!!!
I can't wait to get them! It's going to be a summer dress, knitted or crocheted, haven't decided yet.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

This shawl I made last fall.
If you don't like attention, DO NOT crochet something like that, because you're gonna make a furore wherever you go.
As you see, to make this shawl you need to make a few big, medium and small lockets, also a few pompoms, then stitch them together in rectangular shape. I was thinking it would be a good idea to make a poncho, because the shawl is quite heavy and tries to fall down every minute.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

I liked this interview with crochet designer Stacey Trock.
I found some useful information in it.
When you design your pattern write down all steps at the time you crochet. It might seem that you can recall everything after you're done, but you can miss something and your pattern would contain mistakes.
"I jot it down on the paper and then I save the paper, even though it’s really messy, until it’s time to publish the pattern", says Stacey.

Ellen Gormley suggests to join CGOA, subscribe to as many crochet magazines as you can because you should support the industry (hmmm... I don't know), complete the CGOA's Masters' of Basic Stitches Course. You can find her other suggestions here.

Another smart tip from Ann on her blog BellaCrochet: "If your design doesn't turn out right the first time, rip it out, and start again". She knows what she is talking about - her designs just amazing. Probably because she rips them out a lot. :)

If you wonder how to become a crochet designer, Brenda Stratton' s answer is: Just do it!She gives some tips on submitting and publishing your design in this article.She makes accent on copyright laws, which is very important.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Hello!
My name is Natalia. I love to crochet and want to share my passion with you.
There is no such thing as a crochet machine what makes this cruft unique. Whenever I go somewhere, I take a ball of yarn and a hook with me and crochet, crochet, crochet. :)
I'm Russian, so I have to apologize for my broken English.
I don't make boring things to decorate my house. If we can find some time to crochet we have to spend this time to make us look more stylish and beautiful (if more is possible, not sure).
Let's make some things other women would kill for!

Today I want to show purses I made and explain how to make one for yourself.
I used plastic canvas inside to shape them. There are circle ones available in Jo Anne, but sizes are limited to two or so, at least in my local store. You also can get rectangular sheets and cut out 2 circles and 1 rectangle with a short side as a width of your purse and long one as a side of it, which connects those 2 circles. I stitched pieces of canvas using thread. I guess you can use fine wire as well, but if you wash you purse later on, it might develop rusty spots, so may be it's not a good idea.

You'll also need #10 cotton thread (I used 2 threads at once and a hook 3 mm). I think you can take thread #5 as well, but I prefer #10 x 2 because it just looks so much better.

To crochet a circle - shaped purse you need:
Make a loop,
1 row: make 6 single crochet (sc) into this loop.
2 row: make 12 sc (2 sc in every sc).
3 row- until desired size of you purse; add 6sc (in every second sc, 4th row - in every third, 5th row in every 4th sc and so on).
But be careful, make increasings every time in different sc, don't make them one above another so you purse remains circle, without any angles.
As soon as you get desired size (make sure you have canvas corresponding size to make a frame), measure you peace to make canvas frame later), stop increasing, crochet until you reach 1/2 of desired width of your purse (1.5 inch in my case).
Turn, crochet about 10 inch, turn again (this will become an opening).
Keep crochet and turn until that peace reach 1.5 inch long, cast off. This peace you will fold under.
Start again, making another circle, exactly the same. Then crochet them together, leaving opening.

Then I crocheted some flowers and stitched them to the purses through canvas inside.
You can buy some embellishment or flowers in the craft store to decorate you purse.
I also made a lining inside to cover canvas.
When the purse is ready, get a pair of matching handlers or crochet them.
To attach handlers I made 4 little stripes, put them through rings at the end of handlers, folded them inside and stitched to the purse.
So, are you ready to make a unique purse nobody else has? I guarantee women will stare at your purse and ask where you got it.
You have plenty of time until summer to make yourself look outstanding!